Madoka Magica is a modern Buddhist folktale
With the new film coming soon I was going to talk about one of the most neglected aspects of Madoka Magica in the English fandom. It’s very explicit use of Buddhism which is often discussed by Japanese critics.
The show is Buddhist in two primary ways
The wish system is based on the first two Noble truths
Madoka is the story of a young girl choosing to become a Bodhisattva, specifically Madoka’s story is a retelling of the popular Buddhist figure Kannon in a modern setting.
Both of these are done in a way that would be very obvious to a Japanese audience. While the show has a reputation in the west as dark or subversive I’m going to argue that it’s not out of line with common Buddhist themes.
(As a note, There is controversy that “suffering” is too strong a translation but since the show uses despair I’ll keep it.)
First the wish system and Despair. Though many see the show as dark and nihilistic, in Buddhism suffering is considered an inevitable and unavoidable part of life. Suffering is inherent in Buddhism because we desire and cling to things but nothing is permanent, everything is in a state of mutual dependence and change flowing forever.
We might achieve happiness, success, our goals but these are temporary. We age, we lose the people we love, the world we are born into changes around us, our relationships change. Even in minor ways the happiness of achieving what we want is not permanent. Consider any major goals you have accomplished in your lives, was that happiness itself totally permanent and unchanging and enough to carry you through for the rest of your life? Notably in Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles offer’s Faust only one perfect moment for his soul.
So while the discourse has always been on if the wishes were selfish or not the real issue is that no wish other than those that threaten the wish system could ever work.
Sayaka wishes to help her childhood friend and crush. She thinks she’ll never regret the wish until she discovers the true cost. Hitomi and Kyosuke start a relationship none the wiser to what Sayaka has done and she can do nothing as her lifelong friends move on from her. She tries to throw herself into the magical girl role only to find out the people she protects are sometimes unsavory. Sayaka was attached to a naive view of the world that changed while she bore the cost.
Kyoko wished people would attend her fathers ministry to help her family. For a time this worked but her father discovered magic was involved and she lost everything in a night.
Mami wished to live after a car accident, she was left alive but lonely and without a family. This loneliness was so deep and crushing when she was given the chance to no longer bear it she became careless, got herself killed and dragged her friends into her dark world.
In the other timelines Madoka wished to save someone else. In every single one she was either killed or fell into despair when the threat was eliminated but the costs were made clear.
All the wishes provided real happiness to the wisher but when that wore off and the cost remained the girls either fell into despair or were left alone to fend for themselves. Only Homera’s wish and Madoka’s final wish, wishes that threatened the system, avoided this.
When despair becomes too great a magical girl dies and is reborn as a witch. Witches have motifs based on the magical girl's thoughts, a death echoing some Buddhist beliefs . While these witches share continuity with their magical girls they cannot be reached even by people they knew in life, in line with Buddhist rebirth. Becoming a witch is like being reborn into a hell realm of which there is no going back.
Now it’s necessary to compare Madoka to Kannon.
Kannon is a Bodhisattva and extremely popular in Japan. Bodhisattva is someone who can achieve enlightenment but vows to forgo it to help all sapient beings achieve it.
Her Chinese counterpart Guanyin is described as a woman in white robes like ultimate Madoka.
To become a Bodhisattva one must have good karma from many lifetimes. Homura provides this as Madoka’s kindness inspires Homura to loop time over and over again. Kyubey explicitly confirms that Madoka is the center of Karma of many timelines.
Kannon saw the suffering of different beings and released her good Karma to either purify a hell realm or create a pure land for those suffering to go and achieve enlightenment. Madoka uses her karma to create a mysterious realm for magical girls she rescues.
Kannon is said to rescue those who are in their last moments who cry out for her help and save them from a negative rebirth. Madoka rescues magical girls in their last moments before they can become a witch.
Both Kannon and Madoka cleanse the Karma of those they help.
Kannon works tirelessly for others' salvation, Madoka assures magical girls that she is always fighting for them.
Madoka has a similar origin to Kannon and other Buddhist figures in general terms. She is relatively sheltered and privileged, unaware of the full extent of the suffering of the world. She still however suffers and has little sense of worth but great compassion for others. She wants to help but is ineffective until enlightenment.
Madoka after rescuing all magical girls past present and future achieves Nirvana. She describes Ego death with her consciousness spreading through the cosmos.
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